New TSA Administrator To Keynote Opening General Session On Tuesday

The NBAA announced Thursday that TSA Administrator John S. Pistole (pictured) will be a speaker at the Opening General Session at NBAA's 63rd Annual Meeting & Convention in Atlanta.

"Administrator Pistole has continually shown a readiness to work with industry to accomplish important goals we all share - enhancing the security of flight while preserving the mobility and flexibility that are the hallmarks of business aviation," said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. "We are delighted that he will be joining us at this year's Convention."

The Convention's Opening General Session, which will feature Pistole and other influential business and aviation leaders, will take place on the show's exhibit floor on Tuesday, October 19. The Convention runs from October 19 to 21 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA.

Pistole was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to the top post at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in June, a month after being appointed by President Obama. The former deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) came to the TSA as a 26-year veteran of the FBI with extensive national security and counterterrorism experience. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he was put in charge of the FBI's expanded counterterrorism program, eventually becoming executive assistant director for counterterrorism and counterintelligence. Pistole was named the FBI's deputy director in 2004.

Earlier this year, Bolen commended Pistole's role in working cooperatively with NBAA and other business aviation stakeholders to devise the TSA's new waiver plan, which eliminated a historically unpredictable and burdensome process for companies using business aviation to obtain international waivers for flights into the U.S.

As a speaker at the Opening General Session, Pistole will join long-time business aviation supporter and Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue, FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt and Cox Enterprises President and CEO Jimmy Hayes.

FMI: www.nbaa.org/2010